Italy’s most Instagrammable places | Part 2

This is the second part of my Instagrammable blog posts, this time featuring Florence, Lake Como, Amalfi Coast, Rome and Lake Garda. For these cities, I included a bit more of a “storytime” element of what went down to get the pics. So sit back, relax and enjoy part 2 of Italy’s Instagrammable cities.

Florence

About the pictures:

First picture:

This pic was back in November where it gets dark a lot quicker. I think because of this, people don’t necessarily consider it to be prime time to capture this Instagrammable church. Before going to dinner, we *very casually* stumbled upon the Duomo di Firenze. We decided as there was hardly anybody around that it would be the perfect time to take pictures. I’m SO glad we decided to take our pics in the evening as the next day, it was super busy. If there’s one thing that I’d really recommend is to go to all the main touristy areas at times where they’ll be the least busy. That is essentially early morning or in the evening. Second picture:

The background of this picture kind of gives you an idea of just how busy the Duomo gets. This picture was taken back in March. Unlike the previous picture, I decided to have the Duomo di Firenze much more in the back. The only issue was unlike the previous pic that didn’t involve much editing this one did. The sun was predominantly beating down on the Duomo making the forefront of the picture quite dark. So it really did require some photo edition magic. (Sidenote, if you want a blog post on all my photo editing apps, lemme know).

I really love Florence and will go as far as to say it’s my favourite Italian city. It’s the one place that I’ve been to, where I truly didn’t mind all of the tourists.

Lake Como

About the pictures:

First picture:

This was taken in March during a girls weekend that I had with my mum. We stayed in an Airbnb in Pognana Lario which resides opposite George Clooney’s Como home. Unfortunately, the weather wasn’t all of that so it was a bit tricky to pick up anything across the lake. Pognana is a tiny place on the border of the lake with not a lot going on besides a bar, a supermarket and a hairdressers. But hey, what more do you need?

With mum, we were trying to find a supermarket that GoogleMaps had recommended however it was nowhere to be found. I ended up asking one of the locals to direct us to which he said to hop in his car and he’d take us. This man didn’t speak English at all. However, with my broken Italian, we ended up having a good old chat in which he said that he didn’t even like Como. I can’t lie, it was disappointing to hear that from a local as by that point we’d only been there for 30 minutes.Second picture:

The next day we ventured into the actual Como centre to see what all the online fuss is about. I think it was mainly due to the weather but we were struggling to find things to do. However, we did have a GORGEOUS lunch in a place called Como Loft. I would highly recommend it as it’s got views for daysss. But don’t get me wrong the town itself is really pretty, it was just a shame that the weather was so doom and gloom. Out of all the places that I had been to, Como was the least busiest which was nice.

Amalfi Coast

About the pictures:

First picture:This was our first stop on the Amalfi Coast, in the actual town of Amalfi. In my mind, the Amalfi Coast was going to be a collection of ultra-glamourous Instagrammable towns. However, it resembled my Saint-Tropez experience. You can read all about that trip by clicking here.

I think if it weren’t for their Instagram popularity, this cluster of small towns would be left alone with its locals. This picture was taken on the end of a pier in Amalfi. I didn’t really know exactly where else to go to get the perfect pic. If I were to go again I would roam around a bit more.Second picture:This pic was taken in the very Instagrammable Positano. Now I don’t know about you but this quaint Italian town BLOWS up my explore page in Summer. Positano is a really pretty little town where literally everything is built on top of each other.

We went in March, so they didn’t have any of the classic orange umbrellas and deck chairs and quick frankly the sand was just dirty (well, a lot of it was just straight up dirt). This particular pic didn’t make the gram’ due to a fisherman gathering that was happening in the right-hand corner with all of their fisherman gear. What I would recommend to you, dear reader is to go later on in the year to get that perfect Instagram moment.

Rome

About the pictures:

First pictureFortunately, the place where we were staying was relatively close to the Trevi Fountain so we were able to get there early before things got too hectic. I think one of the main reasons behind why the Trevi Fountain can look crowded is because the square that it is located in is surprisingly small.

Unfortunately, on this day there were barriers next to the fountain so we weren’t able to get super close. I think not having complete access to the fountain is something you need to be prepared for. I’ve spoken to a fair few people that this has happened to. Additionally, in the morning the sun is predominantly on the fountain. Much like the Florence pic, it casts a rather dark shadow in the foreground.Second Picture:

After taking photos at the Trevi Fountain and just generally roaming around Rome, by the time we arrived at the Colosseum it was chockablock. There’s one side of the Colosseum that is more Instagrammable than the others. People try to get all of their pictures in front of it because it’s more “idyllic”.

Due to the number of people, there was no point in attempting to get a picture on ground level from that side. What we did was walked around and got pictures from the less popular sides. By walking around we ended up finding this area that still features a bit of the “popular” side. This was a perfect place to get the picture as there were a lot less people featuring in it. As soon as we found this spot, it caught on and suddenly there was a queue of people wanting their picture there.

For this picture, Devan who was taking my picture accidentally stumbled onto the road behind but even in moments of near death, you need to capture that fake candid moment for the gram’ (JOKES obvs).

Lake Garda

About the picture:

My absolute favourite moment of Lake Garda was driving during the sunset. We started from the top of a hill with the view of the lake the whole way down. This picture was taken the next day when the weather was a little cloudier. From our Airbnb, we walked around to try and find a way to access the lake. We found a tiny little set of stairs which led to a mini beach and took our pics there.

It was such a nice setting cos the clouds were floating just above the hills making it look like snow on top of a mountain. I would seriously recommend going to Lake Garda! I feel like it’s the least Instafamous out of the “two” lakes but totally worth it.